Amanda Mayhayley Lancaster

Click here for information about book of
Mayhayley Lancaster.

From the time that I was old enough to
understand anything that my parents and relatives were
saying I have heard the name of Mayhayley Lancaster; but
most of the time everybody just called her Hayley.

The
first story I heard concerning her was about my
grand-daddy Pyles, John William, or Willie as he was
called by everybody. According to family legend he and
his brother-in-law, Sam Edison, went to Hayley Lancaster
to get her to tell them where General McIntosh had hidden
his gold that he was supposed to have buried somewhere in
Carroll County. You can read a Full detail of the story
by clicking here.

Through the years I have heard numerous stories from
different people about their experience with Mayhayley
Lancaster. One told of his younger days when he and some
other boys picked her up and drove her to town. She has a
couple of bags that she got one of the boys to take into
a store and place behind a counter. He said that they all
believed the bags had money in them that she was having
put away for her by some unknown person. There is even a
movie, Murder In Coweta County, that brings Mayhayley
Lancaster to life on the TV tube. Johnny Cash and Andy
Griffith stars in the movie and June Carter Cash plays
the part of Mayhayley Lancaster.

It wasn't until later in my life that I became
acquainted with the real mysteries about Mayhayley
Lancaster. One interesting factor is that she passed the
Georgia Bar exam and could have been a Lawyer. I guess
there was more money in being a fortune teller though.

In April of 2001, after being away from Carroll County
for many years, I was able to spend several days visiting
relatives and researching some family history. My tour
guide on one of the days was Mr. M. T. Fuller. Mr. Fuller
taught school in Carroll and Heard Counties for many
years. Now at 80 + years his memory of family history is
priceless. Knowing the story about my grand-daddy and
Mayhayley Lancaster he made a point to show me where she
is buried and the house that she had built. People from
all around talked about the house that had so many
chimneys. I counted about 5. He said that if you wanted
to get your fortune told you had better be there early,
because people came from all surrounding counties and the
cars were lined up around her house. People were coming
and going all day, every day. He then showed me the place
where she lived before she built the big house. It was
only a plot of ground that was all grown up. There was no
sign of any dwelling left. He said that every where she
had been people would go there and dig up the place
looking for buried money.

Standing a the grave of Mayhayley Lancaster I couldn't
help but wonder what she was really like. There was a
slab of concrete that covered her grave. Mr. Fuller said
that the members of Caney Head Methodist Church had to
pour the slab to keep people from digging in her grave.
Evidently people thought she might have taken her money
with her to the grave. Her grave stone is not as tall as
it use to be. Mr. Fuller said that it got broken after
being knocked over. The inscription on the stone is kind
of interesting. "For neither did his Brethren
Believe in him". Kind of makes me wonder if she
wanted to leave the message that somebody didn't believe
in her abilities of a fortune teller.

Daddy was one of those people. He had gone with
somebody else to see her. She wanted to know if he wanted
his fortune read. He told her he didn't believe in all
that mess and she got mad at him, cussed him out and ran
him off. Daddy was always one to speak his mind.

Below you can find links to some photos I took of
Caney Head Methodist Church and her grave. There are also
some photos and information that Robert Bonner sent me.
If anyone has any information or photos you would like to
see posted here you can send any photos or stories here.